Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Batteries on a boat need to be low down and strapped down. These things are heavy and if they decide to move about it seldom ends well.

Usually boxes were constructed out of plywood / fiberglass or Roto-molded plastic and these were used to contain the battery. The logic was that any spilled battery acid would be contained by the box.

While I haven't discounted using wet cell technology (e.g. Golf Cart 6V) I am more likely to install AGM batteries. I happen to believe that sealed, maintenance free batteries will be the standard in the future. For that reason I am installing a battery "tray" whose sole purpose is to secure the battery bank in place.

The yellow piece of cardboard is a generic battery outline whose dimensions are the max length of a Group 31 and the max width of a Trojan 6V. The tray can a accommodate 8 group 31 AGM batteries for a total of 840AH.

The spaces in between will be chocked with starboard pieces and the batteries held down by wooden battens bolted down to the edge of the tray with threaded bar.

This is the bracing on the bottom of the tray. It will be supported on wooden beams and bolted into the lead keel. It will also be braced fore and aft and side to side to prevent movement.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Caspers little helper arrived today. A ZF25M, possibly the last one available in the US. A new shipment is due in May, but they are hard to find at the moment. When I asked about the 8deg down angle one, everyone just laughed.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Given enough time and a big enough hammer I could have built a fuel filter/polishing system. It would have worked AND it would have looked like cr&p. These things I know.

I have always lusted after the KTI Filter Boss fuel system. I met and spoke to Carole Keenan of KTI Systems at the Miami Boat Show. Both she and Andy could not have been more helpful and in the end I contract out the build to them.

Andy took my sad sketch and turned it into a working system. The end product is a work of art. I now have a system that can;

1. Polish three tanks.2. Move fuel between tanks.3. Supply the engine and generator.4. Has a visual early warning system.5. Has a sight glass to check if fuel is flowing.6. Has a 43 GPH fuel pump.7. Has parts that are not propriety and can be replaced by me at some time in the future.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The original Whitby 42 came with Hynautic (now Teleflex) hydraulic steering. This was a good system at the time and continues to give good service. My only issue with it was the complete lack of feedback.

I had not decided on the steering decision as of last week. The short list was;

Edson had already designed a Pull/Pull system for the Whitby 42 and I suspect that a version of this system was installed on the Brewer 12.8 (the redesigned W42).

Unfortunately, parts of Edson design will not fit on TIH (e.g. I have only room for a 10" quadrant). I have e-mailed Edson with a list of questions but do date have not received an answer. (Correction----a 12" quadrant fits!!!!)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

actually fits. I had to build up the inside of the hull and the base and am less than impressed with my fiberglassing ability. Fortunately its hidden from view.

The new tank holds approx 70gals.

The old tank was not in bad condition. It was foamed in place and the lid bulged a bit but there was no major corrosion. However, if I had to remove it at a later date it would require the removal of the engine first.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Sea Chest was fabricated out of 3/8" Polypropylene, by Dura-Weld, Inc.Excellent company to deal with. Gareth was prompt and efficient, knows his business and the project arrived ahead of time and BELOW budget. That's not something that happens too often in the boat business.

I need a number of 90deg elbows in the fuel fill hoses. After a few tries I have settled on standard copper plumbing elbows. They fit securely and are nice and compact. It looks too easy, so there must be a snag. OK, whats going to go wrong? Will the copper atoms crawl down the hose and eat my nice fuel tanks? Help!

Friday, March 5, 2010

For some reason the ZF 25 transmission is on back-order everywhere. Someone is suggesting a Twin-Disc so I am investigating. Any suggestions?

Question for Ocean Dove and any other engineer; Is the 8deg down angle the way to go? I have being trying to work it out but am somewhat confused. Working in metric and imperial measurements is not helping (my guru, Jim is an Imperial guy).

(as a former colleague of mine was fond of saying "four years ago I couldn't spell engenier now I are one").

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Yes I know, I'm into mock-ups. If the boat was a cardboard project it would be finished by now. My love affair with mock-ups comes from a long experience with ships/boats where you find yourself asking "how the hell did they put that there?". I worked on one power boat where the hydraulic header tank could only be filled by a size zero supermodel (and I could never find one prepared to fill hydraulic fluid).